Researching

Most county tax sale lists can be rather extensive. At times they include in excess of a thousand properties! Screening through a large list should NOT be a bad experience. The purpose of this step is to find properties that could be researched further to see if the property may be profitable.

Once you have acquired a list, it is important to screen through the list according to the aspects of the property that fit your criteria. The following topics are suggestions of what to use to screen a list.
1. Price – Look at the minimum bid column and if the property is within your price range, set it aside or mark it some how.
2. Location – If you are familiar with the location and its area, identify which properties are in good areas. If you are not familiar with the area then move on to the next topic.
3. Assessor’s Office
4. Zoning Department
5. Recorder’s Office

Contact County Offices

After a list is acquired and properties have been selected to be researched further, the next step is to contact the County Assessor to find out more information about each specific property. The purpose of this step is to find out some detailed information about the property and its location if possible.
The County Assessor generally is the one that determines the value of each property in which the county will base their taxes off of. In order to determine an accurate assessed value, the county must know some of the basic information about the property. The County Assessor should be able to provide the information on a property. After all they do determine the assessed value.
• Call the County Assessor’s Office and ask the following.
1. How the assessed value determined?
2. What is the address of the property? (Street address, legal description, or APN #, Assessor’s Parcel #)
• How can you find a parcel map? (GIS)
3. Lot Size? (Acreage or Square Footage)
4. Dimensions of the property?
5. Is there a building or any improvements on the property?
• Do the improvements still exist?
• Is the building vacant?
• Age of the building?
• Square footage of building?
• How many bedrooms and bathrooms in the home?
• Call the Zoning/ Planning Department and for the following.
1. What is the property zoned? (Residential, Commercial, Agricultural, Rural, Industrial, Estate, and Forestry)
a. What does that mean? or…What can you do with the property?
2. What would it take to re-zone the property? (e.g. From Agricultural to Residential)
3. Is the property buildable? →
a. What are the setbacks? (Distance from the curb to where you can build)
i. Frontage/ Side-yards (distance)/ Back-yard (distance)
b. Are there any easements?
i. Utilities easements: Power lines, water lines, & Gas lines
ii. Easements by Necessity: Point of access to a land-locked parcel
c. Are there any Utilities on the property? [Gas, Power, Water, Sewer, Septic]
d. Is the property in a flood zone? (You may not be able to purchase flood insurance)
4. Are there homes on either side of the property? (If they have utilities then it’s easier)
5. Ask them if there are any projects in the county or the city such as shopping centers, grocery stores, malls, or anything else that would raise the price of the property?
• Recorder’s Office (Or wherever the deed is recorded in the county)
a. Once you have done all of your due diligence on a property including researching the county’s own website, you can call the Recorder’s office to find out the following information:
a. What is the current owner’s name and contact information?
i. Are there any back liens or encumbrances?
b. Is there anything else that they can help you with?